Star Wars fans can catch a small screen glimpse of the next big villain to see big screen action in STAR WARS: EPISODE III, when General Grievous threatens The Force in the next 10 installments of Cartoon Networks STAR WARS: CLONE WARS, beginning with chapter 11 on March 26, 2004 at 9:30 pm. Subsequent chapters of the animated micro-series will air weeknights at 8:00 from March 29 through April 8.
Chapters 11-20 continue the battle between Anakin Skywalker and his would-be assassin, the Dark Jedi Asajj Ventress, protégé of the evil Sith lord Count Dooku. On the desert planet of Dantooine, Mace Windu takes on an army of Droid soldiers. And Yoda undertakes a mission to rescue two fellow Jedi, Barris Offee and Luminara Unduli, who are trapped on the icy planet Ilum. He is joined by Padme Amidala, C-3PO and R2-D2 on this dangerous mission.
A key development in the upcoming episodes of STAR WARS: CLONE WARS is the introduction of a new villain, General Grievous, who will play a large role in the upcoming feature STAR WARS: EPISODE III. In Chapter 20 of STAR WARS: CLONE WARS, a group of Jedi Knights is being decimated by a seemingly indestructible new enemy. Only at the end of Chapter 20, as STAR WARS: CLONE WARS concludes, do viewers get a glimpse of this enormous villain with a fearsome fighting technique.
"In ATTACK OF THE CLONES, we saw that former Jedi Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) was the political leader behind the Separatist movement and instigator of the CLONE WARS," says STAR WARS producer Rick McCallum. "In Episode III, we'll meet General Grievous, the military leader of all the Separatist armies. He's part alien and part robot. Grievous is a master strategist and the greatest hand-to-hand Jedi killer the galaxy has ever known."
"Introducing the new character of General Grievous is an awesome responsibility," said Genndy Tartakovsky, the producer and director of STAR WARS: CLONE WARS. "Working with the great characters of the STAR WARS universe was humbling to all of us on the crew of STAR WARS: CLONE WARS but helping to create a new character that will enter the mythology has made us truly feel a part of the Star Wars family. The fact that he is a powerful villain made it even cooler."
STAR WARS: CLONE WARS, a series of three-minute episodes produced at Carton Network Studios in Burbank, California, is the first animated property starring the central characters of the Star Wars saga. In the first 10 chapters, Obi-Wan Kenobi, serving as a general in the Army of the Republic, led a team of elite Clone Troopers in a battle on the planet of Muunilinst. There he encountered a tenacious bounty hunter named Durge and San Hill, a leader of the Separatist movement. Jedi Kit Fisto led an aquatic assault on the Clone Army on the water planet of Mon Calimari. And Count Dooku recruited Dark Jedi Asajj ventress for a special mission - to assassinate Anakin Skywalker.
Cartoon Network will air STAR WARS: CLONE WARS marathons on April 9 and April 10.
